The blast door bent inward, a fist marking the metal. Izuku assessed the situation one more time; Todoroki´s team was too far away; Ochako´s Quirk use was halved due to her broken hand, and was clearly too emotional to be of much help; Iida looked sickly pale and had a nasty head cut splitting his eyebrow, so Izuku preferred to keep him behind to guard the injured; Tokoyami´s leg was shattered in several places, affecting his concentration and thus his control of Dark Shadow…another good last line of defence; Mei had gone way beyond and risked life and limb to get him back, with little regard for her own safety, and was covered in cuts and bruises.
Fourteen normal Nomus and one that had been too much for Dark Shadow…Izuku deduced the artificial human had to be loaded with enhancement Quirks to even keep up. Bring it on, then. Izuku had already faced the larger bipedal tank with Iida and Tokoyami´s help, destroying it just in time to stop Toga and Uraraka from ending each other, and by that point all the mercenaries in the dome were down, some impaled on Uraraka´s javelins, many knocked out, a few crushed below the tank. The loss of life was tragic, but by this point Izuku considered the mission against Pestilentia war and knowing what he had done to Himiko made it VERY personal.
Himiko herself had a hurt eye and various bruises, but Izuku had spent every waking moment with her for...how long had it been? It felt like months and months, but it had been just over six weeks since they had left Florida, his birthday was still some three weeks away…It felt like he had spent much more time with Toga. And they could fight well together.
Izuku helped get the wounded behind the destroyed mech, assisting Tokoyami as he limped and carrying Mei gently to the safe area. "Kick that Nomu´s ass, Izuku" she said with a weak smile. "Himiko, you ready?" "Yeah, let me just get a weapon. What´s the plan, Izu-Izu?" "We lure as many as we can to that side and collapse the roof on them, we pick the survivors. I´ve got the big one." "Sounds good!" She pulled a combat knife from a fallen merc´s tactical vest, twirling it with skill "Ready."
They approached the blast door, standing in the open to lure the Nomus. Finally, the door gave way and the artificial humans streamed in. Averaging on a height of two meters, the majority of the Nomus seemed generic and nowhere near the power of the USJ Nomu or High End, the Nomu Endeavor had beaten.
"Hey you! You are all going down! Know why? Cause I, Deku, am here!" Fifteen Nomus locked eyes on him and started to run. "Hey, smooth-brains, get over here! We´ll fuck you up! Exposed organs are no match for us, we´re fucking unstoppable together!" The Nomus snarled in response and ran faster…directly where they wanted them. Izuku aimed his hand at the roof and unleashed a dangerous amount of One for All at it. The concrete shattered and fell, catching the artificial humans just as planned.
Two small Nomus kept charging at them, missed by the crash, and from the rubble the Nomu Titan emerged with a roar "Those two are yours!" said Izuku as he leapt into battle.
The big Nomu moved like a person three times smaller, but his power was definitely proportional to his size. In seven of Izuku´s steps and three of the Nomu´s they met, the artificial human striking with a punch, the hero with a flying kick. The Shoot Style kick matched the Nomu´s strength and gave Izuku several options. Sir Nighteye´s predictions; Nomu will attack with other arm, attempt to crush with foot. Gran Torino´s mobility, slide between the arms. As he fought, he wasn't just Izuku, he was the goddamn Deku, his technique absorbed from teachers and companions into a solid, powerful system.
In close, Deku had the upper hand. Tsuyu´s jump, Ojiro´s kickboxing knee strike! The knee connected with a rib as thick as his bicep, shattering it, only to watch it return to place instantly. Regeneration, slight damage absorption, giant size…show your hand, Nomu! Deku launched himself upwards using a kick at a lower rib, reaching above the Nomu´s head and striking with a spin kick directly into the Nomu´s eye. The gelatinous orb exploded around his armoured boot.
But the Nomu capitalized on the distance to his opponent and threw a bite at Deku, catching the hero´s other leg. Its teeth were jagged metal, the blades tearing Deku´s leg muscles as he shook the hero around, like a dog with a squeaky toy. Knife teeth, that explains why he kept his mouth shut. Before the Nomu could grab him or bite him further, Deku pulled himself towards the trapped leg and delivered a powerful punch at the artificial human´s teeth, smashing them to bits and freeing his leg.
Deku fell away, adjusting his body to roll upon landing, avoiding the injured leg. The roll was successful, and he put a couple of meters between himself and the Nomu, but it wasn't enough distance, and he was caught by a massive fist smashing against his entire torso. The punch launched him into the air, where a second haymaker caught him. When he landed a foot was already slamming down to crush him.
Deku rolled away and got up to a crouch. There was no punching the Nomu like All Might would have done in his prime, he had to be ruthless, merciless, and exploit every weakness. "Air force smash!" a jet of air ruptured the Nomu´s other eye, cracking the exposed skull around it. The blinded Nomu just switched its stance from the basic brawler´s guard he had been using previously to cover its exposed brain with his left hand. Doesn't depend on eyesight. Understands own weakness…completely sentient? High End had been able to articulate basic sentences when fighting Endeavor…One arm to protect you will not be enough.
One for All strengthened his injured leg enough to leap at the Nomu, feinting right and going left with all the speed the Quirk allowed, getting behind the artificial human. The Nomu´s physiology was basically human, so Deku could immobilise it through the spine. Deku spread his fingers in a karate chop gesture, aimed directly above the Nomu´s belt, and speared its back with the power of One for All. His hand passed through skin and muscle, and as he connected with the spine he balled his fist again and punched even harder. The vertebra offered about as much resistance as ten centimetres of steel and was displaced completely.
The punch severed the spinal cord and cut through nerves and blood vessels. With one sharp motion, Deku drew back his arm, leaving the Nomu paralyzed below the waist. Its legs wobbled, and it collapsed backwards, letting go of its head to use both hands to catch Deku, but it was too slow, and Deku had jumped backwards in time. Beyond the Nomu´s reach, Deku limped to stand in front of its head, aimed his hands at the artificial human´s shoulders and flicked two simultaneous Air Force Delaware Smashes at it.
The collarbone shattered, and the shoulders sagged, letting both arms fall to the ground. The Nomu was defeated. Deku looked at his hands; Mei´s gloves had withstood the increased power he had needed to take the Nomu down. The fight over, Izuku let his legs crumple under him and found himself sitting with his back leaning on a concrete boulder. "Izu-Izu!" yelled Toga as she pushed a man in a crimson suit to the ground to run to Izuku´s side. "Are you hurt? I killed the other Nomus and captured their wrangler. Your leg…we have to get you to a doctor!" "The others need it more, I´m okay!" "Like hell you are, I´m bandaging that!" Toga tore the bottom of her shirt and tied it around the wound, making it bleed less.
From the door Izuku could hear a group of people running. He tried to get up, but his leg couldn't support his weight. Toga stood in front of him protectively "Don't worry, Izu-Izu, nobody´s taking you away, they´d have to kill me first." But it wasn't an enemy force, it was Shouto and Momo! Accompanied by more heroes, his friends rushed to his side. Shouto reached him first and, after looking at Toga with distrust, he knelt beside Izuku. With a reassuring smile, he said "We are here, Izuku, the base is ours. We have medics a couple minutes away. It´s alright, brother." Izuku felt relief wash over him and he laid down to wait. It was over.
The Shieldmaiden Hero Freya was more familiar with violence and its consequences than she might have liked. At 28, she was the top hero of the Nordic Confederation and had ended at least seven major crises, the Fimbulwinter Event had nearly started a new Ice Age before she stopped the villains, the secret plot known underwhelmingly as the "Fisherman´s War", stopping the terrorist group "Svartalf" …this fight against Pestilentia felt just as important. Hiding a military base in the middle of Denmark, unseen by the Confederation intelligence and filled to the brim with mercenaries…the man wasn't the second most wanted man in the world without reason.
After reaching the base´s centre, a large dome used to house a bipedal tank and a few other vehicles, Freya had been pleasantly surprised by the Japanese team´s performance, having cleared the entire base themselves with no casualties. The bipedal tank and the large artificial human they found, beaten, gave Freya a sense of wonder for the young heroes´ abilities. UA was still making quality heroes, obviously.
As the American´s reinforcements arrived and took the young heroes away for medical care, it was up to the Scandinavians to search the base for any useful intel. Sadly, it was of little use. Every computer had been scrubbed clean of data, and no physical records were found. Even the highest-ranking militia had never had contact with Pestilentia himself, so spoken testimonies would help them little. And the man in charge of the base, a white-haired man described by the female prisoner, a girl with fangs and yellow eyes, had apparently escaped quietly as the heroes fought bigger threats.
Sadly, the only thing they found were the corpses of heroes and government agents, presumed missing years back, their hero suits faded and clinging to their bones. Freya almost cried as she found a short, stocky corpse covered in heavy armour, its beard decaying away. It had been her friend, Khuzdul, believed to have died at sea in a storm. The Dwarven Hero would at last be put to rest, at least, and his family could properly grieve.
As she carried her friend´s remains to the outside, she saw the tall Japanese kid in armour, his forehead bandaged, barring the way for the brunette girl in the bloodied pink costume, not letting her go after the girl they had rescued. Freya had a good eye for grudges and bad blood, and there was definitely some there. Both teen heroes stopped their argument as she walked past them. Beyond the medical tents the American strike force had erected was an open area designated for the coroner, to humanely treat with the battle´s casualties. It had been very lucky that no hero had fallen, but the dead prisoners had started to fill the rest of the space. She placed Khuzdul gently on a body bag and could feel tears burning in her eyes as she closed it.
After that she walked to the command tent, where a Navy SEAL´s commander and the hero Holy Diver, who Freya now knew was called Anna Dobinek, were arguing out loud "…we were supposed to deploy to Kenya, not to clean up after heroes in Europe! The Department of Defense will hear about this! I don't care if your boss is God´s own errand boy, my SEALs are not your servants to be cleaning up shit." Holy Diver started an angry response but was interrupted "I don't care to hear your opinion, Spook, get outta my tent."
Dobinek strode out in anger, almost bumping with Freya "Fuck, sorry, I almost crashed with you. Do you have to go there? Cause that man´s an asshole. Though he may treat other people slightly better, he takes Green Beret-SEALs rivalry too seriously and might hate me for it." "No, I actually was looking for you, there is a satellite phone for us in the comm tent." "That may be just what I need, I prefer the boss telling me to deal with paperwork than a one-star general pulling rank like a fucking L.T. straight out of West Point." "I did not understand that reference, but I see you are frustrated. Would you like cold Finnish vodka afterwards? We have a good bottle in the helicopter!" "Hell yeah, I´m down for that. Lets go take that call."
The video call started a minute after they arrived at the comm tent, showing some sort of old cowboy. Was that still how American men dressed? "Good to see you made it, Anna. We´re pulling you back out of Europe, take Midoriya´s team plane and put them back in Japan. I´ll meet you there, we need to regroup and get some focus. And get Midoriya´s friends away from the mission, they altered the rescue plan so much…I am not a spy for my love of paperwork, goddamnit. So, y´all keep the kids not in our team out, capiche? The Ochacho girl especially, Toga may be expendable, but not "dies in a death duel between jealous girls" expendable. And offer the Hastume girl a job. What else? Oh well, I´ll let you get to it, I have to yell at some SecDef idiots. Have a good day, Anna."
"Well, Holy Diver…vodka?" "Yeah, I´m not the one flying that hypersonic plane anyway."